Architecture Workshop, Inc. submitted a bid that would meet the county's budgetary and time constraints for the proposed building project in Straban Township, near the Adams County Prison, said Adams County President Judge Michael George. And the firm could win the county's business at the commissioners' Aug. 6 meeting, county officials said.

The not-to-exceed price for design and planning of the facility is roughly $394,000, George said.

Architecture Workshop, which will deploy resources of several other Pennsylvania firms, stood out to county officials for its familiarity with similar projects as well as the land where the county intends to build its new structure.

The company was one of 17 proposals submitted by 16 firms, George said. Proposals were reviewed by a committee consisting of George, county solicitor John Hartzell; county Commissioner Marty Qually; Department of Operational Services Director Neil Burkholder; a county planner and special counsel retained by court staff.

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If they win the bid, Architecture Workshop will work with USA Architects and Brinjac Engineering, Inc. to design the new court facility, which county officials have said will reduce annual facility costs.

The architectural and project management costs will be paid by the court, George said, which will not put any burden on taxpayers.

Some of the proposals reviewed by the committee were Taj Mahals, Qually said, which the county does not want.

"We're looking for a functional building to serve the department's needs," Qually said.

The county would like the new building to be between 36,000 and 42,000 square feet, up to 60 feet tall and house roughly 120 employees among the four departments.

The new county facility will house four county human services departments — Domestic Relations, Children and Youth Services, Probation Services and the Department of Operational Services.

Those four departments operate out of two leased buildings in downtown Gettysburg, in what Adams County Commissioner Chair Randy Phiel referred to as a "hodgepodge" situation.

Leases the county has on the two downtown Gettysburg buildings — the Union Square building at 19 Baltimore St. and the old American Legion building, 123 Baltimore St. — cost $482,035 annually.

The demolition and rebuild project was preliminarily priced at $8.3 million by George, a figure the project cannot exceed for it to be cost-effective. George has said the county would stand to save money by vacating the leases and building on its own property.

The estimated completion and opening dates are in Spring 2016, according to the proposal.

"It seems we may be moving in the right direction," Phiel said of the court's recommendation proposed earlier this week. "But we will not jump to any conclusions until the process is completed and the numbers and technical considerations are all in."

Mark Walters covers Adams County for The Evening Sun. Contact him at 717-637-3736 ext. 147.